President Miloš Zeman has confirmed he will appoint Social Democrat leader
Bohuslav Sobotka prime minister next week…but questions remain over Mr
Sobotka’s choice of ministers. In a 40-minute televised news conference
President Zeman listed a number of objections to the proposed new cabinet,
but suggested the new government could be appointed by the end of January.

Miloš Zeman, photo: CTK
President Zeman has finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing to the
public that he will appoint Bohuslav Sobotka prime minister next Friday,
January 17th, in a ceremony at Prague Castle. In fact what the president
said was November 17th, but let’s assume this was a genuine mistake and
not a nefarious plan to prolong the ‘government of experts’ Mr Zeman
installed last summer.

If it was indeed a mistake, then on Friday, a record 83 days after the
ballot boxes were sealed, Mr Sobotka will become the 11th prime minister
since the Czech Republic became independent in 1993, succeeding the
technocrat leader Jiří Rusnok. The Social Democrat leader had, said Mr
Zeman, fulfilled the sole criteria laid before him – presenting him with
signed proof that his new coalition government will command a convincing
majority in parliament.

For a few days, maybe weeks (maybe longer) after Mr Sobotka’s
appointment, the country will find itself in the curious constitutional
no-man’s land of simultaneously having two prime ministers – Bohuslav
Sobotka, the prime minister designate without an appointed cabinet, and
Jiří Rusnok, the interim prime minister who does have a cabinet, albeit
one that’s governing in an acting capacity since resigning in August.

As to who will replace them, here Mr Zeman left room for varying
interpretations. At four o’clock on Friday Mr Sobotka was due to visit
Prague Castle with the original signed coalition agreement and the official
list of ministers. Mr Zeman, without naming names, told reporters he had
objections to a number of them. Those objections ranged from one
minister’s missing security clearance, another’s studies at the now
discredited law faculty of Plzen university, and another’s absolute lack
of expertise in his given ministry.

Bohuslav Sobotka, photo: Filip Jandourek
And the president hinted he was willing to reject Mr Sobotka’s cabinet
proposals if consensus couldn’t be found. Even if most constitutional
experts agree his power of veto is in fact limited, and would almost
certainly be challenged in the Constitutional Court. But Mr Zeman showed no
signs of being cowed by the prospect. “A proposal is not something you
automatically have to accept,” he said. “If that were the case, it
would have interesting consequences for business…and indeed marital
relations.”